A crazy story

After a first ‘crazy person’ is arrested and later released as suspect in the assassination of the Italian Nuns, another mentally disabled person is apprehended. This affair is filled with inconsistencies. – By Edouard Madirisha; translated by Yves Didier Irakoze

Benjamin Hakizimana ©Iwacu

The primary suspect of the triple assassinations, Christian Claude Butoyi, has been arrested in the night of 10th September around 1am.
According to the police, he was arrested thanks to a cellular telephone belonging to one of the victims, sister Lucia, which he sold to an inhabitant of Kamenge. According to the police, the buyer found sms text messages in Italian and called the police.
When Butoyi was arrested, according to the police, he had keys in his pocket that provided access to the nun’s bedrooms. He also had a stone covered in blood that was used to finish them off. According to the Police Spokesman, the three nuns were raped, but that is denied by Father Mario Pulcini, the Parish Priest of Guido Maria Conforti. Christian Butoyi is detained in the cells of the Judiciary Police of Jabe, the former PJP, before being handed over to the National Intelligence Services.
However, in the wake of the triple homicide, the guards of the Parish have testified that that they saw a young shirtless mentally disabled man leave the convent. Acquaintancesof the suspect, and his own father, ensure that he is an insane. But, Herménégilde Harimenshi, Spokesman of the National Police underlines that there are no signs showing that Christian Claude Butoyi is mentally disabled. That is the reason why, he indicates, he answers questions normally, in Swahili. Moreover, the suspect confirms that he left the crime scene in a blood soaked shirt.

A clever murder and ‘crazy’ suspect

Nevertheless, M. Harimenshi indicates that in due time, the police will request a medical evaluation. According to our information, that has not occurred yet.
After the assassination of the first two nuns, a unit of police forces remained in the area to protect the parish. However, a third nun is killed two hours later. The murder, or the murderers, ran away, unseen by the police behind the wall or the guards inside the parish grounds.
With these facts, the hypothesis that a mentally disabled person is guilty of the triple murders is hard to believe, although the police still favor this theory. While the first suspect Benjamin seemed too insane to make a good suspect, Christian is ‘just insane enough’ to make an ideal suspect. But, his confession aside, his arrest seems too good to be true. In fact, how did he commit the triple murder, especially for third one, without being caught by the police or the guards? He could escape them after committing the murders, but was easily arrested after proofs incriminating him and he confessed. In summary, it seems that Christian Butoyi was intelligent enough to quietly commit his crimes and escape, and stupid or ‘insane’ enough to get caught with such blatant proof in his possession. All in all, it’s a crazy story.

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Bukuru, the other “crazy person”

Merely 48 hours after Christian Butoyi confessed to killing three Italian sisters, the police arrest his twin brother Bukuru. – By Christian Bigirimana; translated by Yves Didier Irakoze

Bukuru, Christian Buoy’s brother ©Iwacu

On wednesday September 10th 2014, two days after the assassination of three Italian sisters, which was followed by the confession of Christian Butoyi, his twin brother Bukuru is also arrested.
According to an inhabitant of 11th Avenue in Teza Quarter, the following happened: In the afternoon, Bukuru was wondering around the area commonly known as “Arrêt bus” when the police arrived in a pick-up. Two officers got out and arrested Bukuru.

“He didn’t stop shouting”

Bukuru resisted forcefully. “In contrast to his quiet brother, Bukuru didn’t hesitate to shout, asking them why they arrest him and where they want to take him.” People witnessing the arrest also started to boo and shout. According to our source, it took two agents to control Bukuru and handcuff him. “The police pulled him into the van and left.”
Some people ask themselves why they imprison Bukuru when his brother confessed the crime? Is it a case of complicity? Others find no fault in their arrest and hope that the two brothers will undergo psychiatric evaluation.
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Analysis /Searching for a “crazy person”

Apparently, since the beginning, the investigation by the police on the triple homicide of Kamenge has been oriented towards ‘crazy people’ . IWACU discovered that the day before the arrest of Bosco, presented by the police as the main suspect, another mentally disabled person was arrested. – By Elyse Ngabire; translated by Yves Didier Irakoze

Christian Butoyi

It’s Monday, 8 September 2014, the day after the assassination of three nuns at the Guido Maria Conforti Parish in Mirango Commune. The neighborhood is in shock. According to our investigation, between eleven and twelve ó clock, a certain Mayele, driver of the Kamenge Administrator, arrives at Benjamin Hakizimana’s home. The boy in his 20’s, is a known ‘crazy person’ in the neigbourhood.
At his address, they find his sister and ask her where her brother is. With no worry, Françoise thinks that they are good Samaritans sent by the administrator of the commune: “Because of poverty, my brother didn’t benefit from the medical care at Kamenge Neuropsychiatric Hospital these last few days. I thought to myself that they were agents sent by the Administrator to drive Benjamin to the hospital.”
Surprisingly, Mayele immediately calls the police. It’s not a visit, but an arrest!
Three vehicles, including a police pick-up, swiftly arrive in the area. Many officers invade the Benjamin’s home and compel him to “provide the weapon of the crime.” Naturally quiet and now scared, Benjamin doesn’t understand anything. He repeats in Swahili : “Ni bitu gani?” (What is happening?)
Quickly, he is handcuffed. Neighbors come to the defense of Benjamin, a silent, non-violent boy. They plead with the police to treat him humanely, because he has a wound on his buttocks that hurts him.
His sister weeps, implores, mediates, but Benjamin is violently thrown inside the pick- up. “The police dumped him in the rear of the vehicle”, Françoise testifies.

His sister goes with him

The sister of Benjamin is afraid. She doesn’t understand what is happening to her brother. She decides to accompany him. Intuitively, she understands that something serious is underway. “I took my baby of a few weeks old and I got into the police car.”
Françoise indicates that they were taken to the Prosecutor Judiciary Police (PJP), where she was under interrogation for over four hours on the behalf of her brother. Today, she explains: “Benjamin doesn’t talk much. How can he answer all the police’s questions without my help?” The Judicial Police Officer (OPJ) asks her where her brother was on the day of the triple murder. She replies by saying that her brother rarely moves out of the house: “He only goes out when he is going to search for food and at the latest at 6pm, he is always at home.”
Around 5:30pm the police decide to let them go. The file on Benjamin is empty. According to Françoise, one police officer asks her if she has money for the bus. She says no. A police vehicle then drives Benjamin and her sister to the 5th Avenue Gituro, not quite their home. “My brother and I were so hungry and thirsty that we hardly made it to our home.” Françoise arrives at home hungry, but happy about the release from police custody. The arrest of Benjamin was not mentioned by the police publicly. Another “crazy person”, Christian Claude Butoyi, will be arrested the following day.